"Pequeñito, con sus guedejas lisas y en correcta formación"

Question

Hello. I have been working on a translation of a book called El Anacronópete by Enrique Gaspar (1877), and I'd like to ask for some help with this description of the main character, who, in Chapter 2, has just walked into a large lecture hall and is described as:

pequeñito, con sus guedejas lisas y en correcta formación

I am just learning Spanish, and I have difficulty with words such as formación, which may have a common translation (formation) but a different translation in a context such as this. I would also like to have an understanding of guedejas. Does this simply mean "long hair" or is it referring particularly to the hair that falls onto his temple? I am uncertain, too, whether "en correcta formación" refers to the hair or something else about him.

Any help will be much appreciated.

He may well be wearing a wig, it was the fashion. - annierats, Mar 7, 2012

Thank you, annierats! - bouldermain, Mar 7, 2012

Answer 1

Guedeja = mechón de pelo (not only onto his temple) = lock of hair

En correcta formación = very well combed, with no a single hair out of its place.

Answer 2

Thank you, Cordobesa! This helps a lot. The phrase "not a hair out of place" makes perfect sense, because he is the guest of honor at a formal affair.

In this context, might it be that "guedejas lisas" refers to "even sideburns"? I found one reference to guedeja in the 18th century that indicated it was a "sidelock." Or could it mean that he is clean-shaven? And it seems that pequeñito is a term of endearment. So perhaps:

Our dear little man, clean-shaven and not a hair out of place...

Many thanks again!